Hunton Retail Law Resource

The CPSC extracted another steep civil penalty this month from a manufacturer of coffee brewers that agreed to pay $5.8 million after it knowingly failed to report a defect or unreasonable risk of serious injury to the CPSC. Specifically, the manufacturer received roughly 200 reports in a four-year period about its coffee brewers spraying out hot liquids and coffee, inflicting burn-related injuries to consumers. As part of the settlement, the manufacturer also agreed to develop, implement and maintain a compliance program to avoid failure-to-report problems in the future. Perhaps the recent change in CPSC leadership will impact the frequency or amount of these civil penalties in the future.

Many online retailers are exploring how to use drones to quickly deliver online orders to customers. In June 2016, the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) issued a final rule permitting flights by commercial drones under certain conditions, including the drone and its cargo weigh less than 55 pounds and the drone stays within sight of the pilot. While the rule was a welcome step forward for the commercial drone industry, the operational restrictions prohibited drones to fly over any populated areas due to safety concerns, essentially forbidding commercial drones in most urban areas.

With a new administration in the White House comes new leadership at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”). The CPSC has five commissioners, all of which are Former President Obama appointees, though no more than three may share the same political party affiliation. Commissioner Elliot Kaye—a Democrat—served as the CPSC’s Chairman until this month, when Commissioner Ann Marie Buerkle—a Republican—was named Acting Chairman. Kaye will continue to serve as a commissioner and Buerkle will remain Acting Chairman until President Trump nominates and the Senate confirms a permanent replacement. Before joining the CPSC in 2013, Buerkle represented New York’s 25th Congressional District in the House of Representatives and served as the U.S. Representative to the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China enacted a new Cybersecurity Law in November 2016. The final Cybersecurity Law will apply to many multinational companies starting June 1, 2017.

This past week, several consumer actions made headlines that affect the retail industry.

FTC Issues Business Guidance under Consumer Review Fairness Act

On February 21, 2017, the FTC issued guidance to help businesses comply with the Consumer Review Fairness Act. Signed into law in December 2016, the Act is aimed at protecting consumers’ right to share honest opinions about a product or service in any forum. The FTC's guidance stresses that it’s illegal for companies to include standardized provisions that threaten or penalize people for posting honest reviews, while protecting companies’ rights to prohibit or remove reviews that contain confidential or private information, are libelous, abusive, vulgar or inappropriate, are irrelevant or are clearly false or misleading.

TCCWNA case law has continued to develop with no end in sight. Recently, courts have grappled with definitional questions that could impact the scope of the law and affect sellers of consumer goods and services.

Last year, we reported on Hunton’s Employment & Labor Law Perspectives blog that a confederation of trade associations filed an amicus brief supporting Volkswagen Group’s challenge to a National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Regional Director’s decision allowing a union election in a “micro-unit” of maintenance workers at the company’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, auto manufacturing plant. At the time, the case was on review before the full NLRB. Unsurprisingly, the NLRB upheld the Regional Director’s decision on review. Now, Volkswagen is seeking review of that decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. 

This past week, several consumer actions made headlines that affect the retail industry.

Litigation Bubbles Up Over Wal-Mart Beer Claims

Wal-Mart was sued in Ohio last week in a proposed class action, alleging that the company falsely marketed and priced mass-produced beer as craft beer. The plaintiff explains that he bought a 12-pack of beer that was packaged to look like craft beer, and sold at a higher price point than other mass-produced beers. In order to be called a craft beer, the Brewers Association requires that the brewery make fewer than 6 million barrels annually and be less than 25 percent owned by a mass producer. Wal-Mart’s beer is a part of a collaboration with Trouble Brewing, which the complaint alleges does not exist but is a subset of a large mass beer producer.

Join us for a complimentary webinar on Tuesday, March 7, 2017, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EDT.

While proactive retail employers are responding to, and preparing for, union organizing efforts at their retail stores, many supply chain workforces remain vulnerable to targeted union campaigns. In this webinar, we will address the special circumstances and vulnerabilities of workforces at warehouses, distribution centers, transport and other supply chain operations. We will review some of the new dynamics in supply chain operations that attract union interest, and offer suggestions ...

Providers of technology products and services are consistently innovating to grow their offerings to retailers. These new products and services present significant opportunity for retailers to more effectively reach customers, generate sales and grow revenue. But while these new offerings present a great tool to grow sales in this challenging market, they also can present significant cybersecurity risks.